How To Eliminate Ads Whilst Watching YouTube Videos

Youtube has been the king of video uploads. Not only that the videos are informative and entertaining but also it's contents has made people famous  due to it's worldwide audience and simplicity of access. This has made it's uploaders rich and famous as well, in the form of  google's advertising flatform. How?

Popular videos with millions of viewers are making advantage of  google advertising flatform to share it's profts by drawing adverts to pop up whilst the video is playing, or starts at the beginning. This is where the money comes from for the uploaders out of thin air, from the viewer's click.

But what about the viewers, aside from the benefit of being entertained and informed? What do we get? Annoyance from adverts? Sometimes it is tolerable, but when it is riddled with it and starts popping out  from here and there, it is annoying.

Here's what we can do, block the advert before they start appearing, and here's a browser extension  to get round to this, the adblock plus (ABP)! This is a browser add on to popular browsers from internet explorer to safari. Follow the links below for the add on compatible for the browser you are using.

 https://adblockplus.org/en/firefox
https://adblockplus.org/en/internet-explorer
https://adblockplus.org/en/chrome
https://adblockplus.org/en/safari
https://adblockplus.org/en/android
https://adblockplus.org/en/opera

Without ABP.

Browsing without ABP permits advertising to pop up as an overlay like the screenshot taken from a youtube page below. Every yellow marker represents an advert to show on that particular timeline. Another form of advert is the standalone video clip at the right side of the page.

 Users might not have a problem with them specially those using big badwidths and with fast internet but could become obvious with slow connections. These adverts are just "sharing" internet bandwidth making the video you are watching to load slowly or buffers a lot. And if you have an erratic flash player, then the page might also crash.

 With ABP.

The ABP weeds out advertising and even the standalone clip from showing. This makes your viewing experience free from distraction. As the bandwidth is just serving the intended content, this also makes the page or video load easier. And if your browser usually crashes because of flash player, this also eliminates it's occurence!

The extension does not only work on youtube videos, it also works on websites hosting any form of advertising, like facebook, blogspots and others.Without the adverts being rendered, the website should load faster.

5 Reasons Why I Can't Ditch Android For iPhone

There's no denying Apple is on top when it comes to smartphones.The anticipation for the newest version is always a blockbuster compared to competitor's initial sale. The iPhone is a real worldwide phenomenon and deserves respect from all angles, from the design, the material, and technology within. Enough credentials to make users switch specially when budget is not a problem.

I like apple products but I am still using an Android phone and I know, I might be the odd man out when I am with my co workers and friends.  I do not have the guts  to tell them exactly why I am still stuck to my Android device and not jump aboard the apple boat, so here is the list my Android can only do!

Removable Battery.

Over time, the life cycle of a rechargeable battery decreases with every charge, until it finaly reject any incoming power. Android do not have a problem with this, a new battery is always available and can be replaced without special tools and hours of watching tutorials. A flick on the plastic cover is all it needs. Though some metallic cased android phones can suffer the same fate as apple.

Removable Memory.

Buy Micro SD

Like the removable battery, expandable memory should be a must. 16GB might sound much 5 years ago, but the advance in hardware, like the camera, HD features, LTE's, internet contents etc., mean your files are much easier to obtain and bigger in size. And these need a bigger "container". The removable memory is the simpliest and cheapest solution to this, which android phones provide. It could be a marketing strategy to provide apple users the minimum GB's to buy cloud storage, but man, the cloud could only be accessed using internet protocol. And why do you need to connect to the internet to access your files?

Easy File Management and Connectivity.

Transfering of files is as easy as drag and drop when using Android. The device is always dicoverable and files ready to be processed whilst USB connected to a computer. Apple would lead you to download itunes before you can do anything. Transferring a file to and from the device needs this piece of  software to work. It seems like it defies the logic of simplicity, the drag and drop, which is one of the computing features that makes things easier.

The bluetooth feature is not optimised with apple. It only supports in and output interfaces like external mouse/keyboard input and external speaker output. It does not support bluetooth file transfer even to an apple product. Androids do not have this problem. Anything can be paired and transfer can be initiated, except with apple products. 

USB Compatibility.

Buy Micro USB

Androids can be charged with any micro USB tipped charger, which happens to be almost any mobile brands. Apple as always, needs the propriety lightning connector to do the job. Micro USB's are also used by other electronics like cameras, tablets, navigators and others. These means you have a better chance to get charged when you forgot your charger.

Infra Red Blaster.

This could be the earliest human interface device to remotely control the power button of a machine but still we can not live without it. Almost all remotes rely on this old technology which the newer device makers have already ditched infavour to the modern internet protocol controlled. Though this technology is far more sophisticated and can control a device from the other side of the globe, the IR blaster is still irreplaceable. Like when the apple TV remote is lost, my Samsung NOTE saved the day, in fact, I have it configured to control the SKY TV, the Philipps DVD and the Sharp TV at home. At work, it can turn the TV at the staff coffee room on and off, flick it's channel and turn down and up it's volume. It can also play a frank at the apple store  by controlling the apple TV there!

Hack iLivid Video Player Content

If you are frustrated to watch movies online cloaked with iLivid download to be installed  before it permits you to watch the content, then you are not alone. I myself is disappointed in stumbling many sites that wanted you to install this for an obvious reason, advertising revenue for the site, as there is a "pay for action" type of advertising these software companies apply to harvest user's data.

Fig. 1

A way to get round to this without installing the software is to download the movie instead of playing it on the fly. One good reason to do this is you can keep and play the movie later, and another one is you do not need to download the software that can be bundled with potentially dangerous software without your knowledge.

But there is a problem to this, the site usually do not have a download button visible. Actually, sites like these intentionally do not put buttons but actions with every mouse or keyboard activity which might include a new window being opened or new tab with advertising contents. A smart move for webmasters to gain revenue but a very annoying experience to users.

The way to get even with them is to get under their hood and download their file from there using their own source code. How to do this?

1. Whilst at the movie window page(Fig. 1), press CTRL + U simultaneously. A page code will popup(fig.2).

Fig, 2

2. Find the file by clicking the menu button(1) and typing file(2) on the search window. The search identified 10 items. Scroll down the results using the arrow keys and watch out for the file content under a video player in this case jwplayer(3). You can also easily identify the content with mp4, flv, avi or mpeg extensions, which in this case, mp4.

3. Highlight the whole script under file from http to mp4 then right click it, then click goto http://.....(4)

4. The file automatically starts downloading, and you can see the progress at the bottom of the browser.

5. The file is located at the download folder(6) and now you can access it without interruption and without the need for the iLivid download!

Answer Your Phone Using A PC

Mobile phones are for our convenience. They help us juggle our busy lives, organize our schedule, notify us with timely messages. They do serve us 24 hours but like us who do need tea breaks, the charging time is also their downtime. Keeping the charger close is possible but sometimes it is inevitable to miss a call because we are engage to something using our PC's.

If you have a samsung mobile with at least Android KitKat (4.4) or higher operating system, you can seamlessly connect your phone to your pc to receive notifications or make and receive calls and texts. The SideSync is compatible with windows PC (XP or  later versions).

How to set up?

 Download and install SideSync on your from

 http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/convergence/sidesync/ 

and from your mobile device, get SideSync  from Play store.

How to use it?

1. You can use SideSync straight away. Both devices should be connected to the same wi-fi access for this to work. Wi-fi has a wider coverage and more stable than other short range connections, this means there is no problem even your phone is charging upstairs and you are working on your computer downstairs, you can still receive notifications from your phone.

2. Launch SideSync on your PC(1) and mobile(2). This takes a few seconds to connect.

3. When connected, the notification window with any alert if there is will show(3). If this is the first time to connect both devices, the screen mirroring may not automatically activate, so click phone screen(3) and it will begin to output the phone screen(4) to your PC(5).

4. Once it is mirrored  on your PC, you can control your mobile from the virtual phone(5)  using mouse clicks. The phone's screen will turn off whilst it is mirrored on the PC. Pressing the home button or the power button will disconnect the mirroring and the phone's screen will become active.

5. Whilst being mirrored, you can call(6), send text(7), access your files(8) by clicking the icons, play music and see notifications.

6. You can do file transfer(9) by clicking and selecting a file(a) holding the left click button(b) until a file transfer icon appears(c)  and dropping it at the desktop(d). The default location for the file is located at the desktop.

You can also do file management like file deletion and creation, and many more!